Arcades - A tribute

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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null1024
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by null1024 »

Their STG selection is nothing to shrug off, and there is this funny note attached to the DFK cab. It pretty much translates to "This is the pinnacle of shmup games - you will enter a hyper-bullet heaven that will make you squeal in ecstacy.
:D

Amazing.
GaijinPunch wrote:That place is really fighter-heavy, which I guess is what makes them the most money.
If I saw an arcade stateside with some fighters [that aren't SF], I'd be pretty happy.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

Back in the early 1980s, my local arcade hangout known as Tilt! inside the Vintage Faire Mall, based out of Modesto, CA, every Christmas shopping season, all the arcade games and pinball machines would go on sale (even the newest arcade cabs as well). So I'd see some prices in the $595.00 range & up. The cheapest price would be at $75.00 for an Atari produced Super Bug upright cab -- the one with a black & white arcade monitor setup (but no takers even at that particular low-ball offer). Those were the days during the Golden Age of the American arcades. The asking MSRP of a brand new arcade upright cab was at $2995.00 USD back in 1982-1983 -- it would practically pay for itself if it was a "consistant money earner" in just a few weeks easily.

Back in December of 2000, Tilt! would have a dual-player Sega Model 2 powered Virtual On cab on sale for a mere $995.00 asking price. It was in superb condition for it's age.

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by Vexorg »

I believe a couple of the malls around here still have Tilt arcades, and do still offer cabs for sale on a fairly regular basis. Unfortunately, the selection is usually pretty terrible (although I might have been tempted by the $800 Crisis Zone cab I saw last time I was there if I had any space for one) and I don't think I've seen a single pinball table or generic JAMMA cab in there in any of the times I've stopped by.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by Eaglet »

null1024 wrote:
"This is the pinnacle of shmup games - you will enter a hyper-bullet heaven that will make you squeal in ecstacy.
SUGEEE
moozooh wrote:I think that approach won't get you far in Garegga.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by xavierjesus »

Sweet thread Rancor - I recognise a few of those places from my last Tokyo wanderings. Thanks for the memories. ;-)

Stole some of those images btw (&Gaijinpunch) - personal use only hombres! ;-)

Ciao
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by GaijinPunch »

No worries -- enjoy 'em!
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by rancor »

Tokyo Leisure Land added to OP.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

As a grizzled early 1980s arcade gamer veteran, it's cool to see Namco's classic Dig Dug up & running on a Blast City at the Tokyo Leisure Land game center. I used to play the Atari Games version of Dig Dug at the ol' local Chuck E. Cheese's pizza/arcade joint back in the day -- it's continue option was a novel feature/highlight during those 8-bit arcade days of lore.

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by zinger »

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Wanted to share this picture I took when I visited Nakano TRF this summer, made me laugh. :)

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Game Box Q2. Stumbled upon this 15 minutes after I had arrived in Nagoya. One of the coolest arcades I've been to, what are the odds? They have video recording devices connected to many of the cabinets, tons of hardcore players. Great atmosphere. Get your Garegga fix.

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Bet noone on this forum has been to Game Fantasian on the bank of Nagara river. :) Probably hot back in the day, but pretty depressing now. Top floor has fighters and the odd shooting game. Some of the old magic still rests within the old neon sign tubes, though.

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Just in time for Scot Amusement Space's funeral. :(
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by GaijinPunch »

Shibuya Kaikan, mutha fuckas

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Shibuya Kaikan 1 by gaijin_punch, on Flickr

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Shibuya Kaikan 2 by gaijin_punch, on Flickr
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by trap15 »

Well, it sucks to have to try to follow GP, especially since I have a shitty camera and I can't edit pictures for crap, but whatever.

Tonight I got bored, and drove around in the near area for arcades (yay Yelp). The local one was closed by the time I got there, so I'll save that one for later (maybe tomorrow?), but I ended up at Parkway Bowl in El Cajon.

Parkway Bowl is located pretty much immediately next to Boardwalk. In fact, as I pulled into the parking lot, I recognized Boardwalk and thought "Oh, this is where I went?". Upon closer inspection, Boardwalk was closed, so I figured it just happened to be the bowling alley next to it that I was actually going to.

Anyways, the arcade is... pretty much standard partly-rundown "bowling alley arcade" fare, with not too much to note. The only game there I really felt was interesting was L.A. Machineguns, which is mostly just a standard rail-shooter. It is notable in that it has a very interesting scoring system based around keeping a timed chain of enemy hits. You can juggle enemies a bit too, which makes it quite interesting.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the entire arcade:
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L.A. Machineguns control panel thing:
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6-slot MVS marquee:
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6-slot MVS CRT image: (that's not due to my shitty camera. In fact, it looks worse in person)
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1-slot MVS with Puzzle Bobble:
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Silent Scope: (yes, the monitor really is cut off above the bottom; it also seems to run all the scanlines together right there...)
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Silent Scope control panel: (hah, they have the Korean version? Wonder why. Also, that soda bottle was there when I came in)
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The feet on a The Soprano's pinball machine. Note how they've been scraped across the floor:
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A Wheel of Fortune pinball machine:
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Only fighting game they had working: XMen Vs. Street Fighter. They have a Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but it was off, and I didn't want to bother trying to turn it on.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by rancor »

Nice one Trap15! I can practically feel the stickiness of those LA Machinegun grips.

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by O. Van Bruce »

Why did I have to be born in a crappy 3rd world country and then move to an another crappy ex-3rd world country? :cry:
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

Arcade parody time:

Back in the early 1980s and into the 1990s, it was considered cheap entertainment to go to the local arcade with a five dollar bill in tow and feed it into the money changer machine (like a little kid sucking in a spaghetti noodle slowly) for a few hours worth of arcade gaming (if the right games were played for duration, that is -- trying to make a fiver last for two to three hours was a better deal than watching a first-run movie at the local movie theater). After taking what seemed like a whole day or even perhaps a century to decide if the aging fiver bill was genuine or a fake, finally did some blindly super shiny quarters magically appear in the holy grail that is the coin slot chute. The greedy hands scooping up the forbidden treasure trove stash and walking off into the dimmly-lit arcade in search of the newest arcade shmup to play. What's this...a brand new arcade shmup cab with a giant-assed "New Game" marquee placed on top? After watching a sample demo run, it's time to insert a hallowed thy quarter and see how it plays.....

After trying it out, it's time to head on down to the arcade's snack bar. Let's see what available on the menu...I'll take an oil-drum sized Mountain Dew to go please (gotta keep those hand & eye coordination reflexs mighty sharp & limber). The arcade snack bar cashier even adds an appropiate-sized straw and soda lid free of charge. Talk about customer service where the customer is king or queen for the day -- what a grand day it is. After downing it in no time flat, a huge and long burp erupts and drowns out the arcade's noisy enviroment causing a huge gust of wind to sweep some hapless arcade patrons out into the great beyond never to be seen again. It takes a rescue team a few days to locate some wind-swept arcade patrons/stragglers as they were located miles away. Thank god they're safe & sound as it was reported by the news media that they were total goners. The arcade owner had the foresight & wisdom to bolt all of the arcade games to the flooring foundation for instances like this. Them arcade cabs will still be there in the event of a tornado or even an hurricane, it's that solidly bolted to the concrete flooring (even if the arcade's four walls are ripped out by destructive forces of nature). Call it a hunch if you will (or more like common sense in general).

There're two places for arcade games after their long and hard journey of a lifetime at the local arcades in the afterlife, whether it be arcade heaven or arcade hell. So what's it gonna be? Some of the unpopular arcade games have had their inside guts ripped out and all that's left is an empty candy cab shell still on fire in the deepest bowels of arcade hell. Is there any hope or salvation for the damned arcade games? Only if arcade hell malfunctions from time to time (which is on a regular & frequent basis these days & nights). Oh wait, the concept of time gets thrown out the window as such a notion is irrelevant in both arcade heaven & arcade hell.

It's better known as when "arcade hell hath freezes over" -- a time when those unfortunate lost & wayward arcade game cabs get to enjoy the finer pleasures of wallowing in a snowy winter wonderland up the wazoo (instead of the ol' usual fire 'n' brimstone settings in place). The arcade hell repair crew gets called in on a regular basis for the odd-ball hell "freeze-over" malfunctions. Hell's afterburners that keeps everything at a consistant & even toasty temperature (even on the max setting), also, needs some regular scheduled maintenance. You should see the repair bill for their services, it's insane. No matter what it costs to keep the fires properly stoked in arcade hell. So be it.

As for arcade heaven, y'know how it is.....

To be continued.....

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the saddest arcade

Post by Frenetic »

I was at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

I said captain. He said wat. I said captain. He said wat u want.
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Ooo! A shmup! Fire...Bomb...what could this be?
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ZOMG it's PROGEAR!
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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--the F-man
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by Zeether »

When did Progear have JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters?
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

It certainly ain't your average Progear marquee...that's for sure. Something different for a change.

Oh, that's a bummer about the Progear game screen on the fritz. Frenetic, did you ask the arcade game attendant if it would be repaired?

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by drauch »

Best arcade ever. :lol:
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by Frenetic »

It was sad, there wasn't an arcade game attendant around. It was actually off and when I turned it on it came up with that screen. Hopefully they'll repair it?
PC Engine Fan X! wrote:It certainly ain't your average Progear marquee...that's for sure. Something different for a change.

Oh, that's a bummer about the Progear game screen on the fritz. Frenetic, did you ask the arcade game attendant if it would be repaired?

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by rapoon »

GaijinPunch wrote:M-E-G-A Arcade Photos
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by drauch »

I think I've laughed at the Progear arcade three separate times now. Too good.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by 1up »

Anyone have more information on the old woody cocktail cabinet on the left in this picture from Natsuge Museum?

http://sk8tokyo.com/shmup/images/arcade/arcade18a.JPG
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by system11 »

1up wrote:Anyone have more information on the old woody cocktail cabinet on the left in this picture from Natsuge Museum?

http://sk8tokyo.com/shmup/images/arcade/arcade18a.JPG
Probably a Taito cocktail.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by rancor »

I'll be there again today. I'll see if I can get some better (sneaky!) pics. I only have my iPhone today, so they may not be the best quality if it's dark inside.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by GaijinPunch »

Still never been. I should go.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by 1up »

Hmm, after a whole day on google I found that those might be Sega T-13 tables, but the wood laminat is throwing me off.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by rancor »

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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by GaijinPunch »

Wow -- nice.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by 1up »

yea, maybe, but with refitted cp's? I think those kind of cocktail cabinets look cooler than those us ones with the cp under the glass.
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Re: Arcades - A tribute

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

1up wrote:yea, maybe, but with refitted cp's? I think those kind of cocktail cabinets look cooler than those us ones with the cp under the glass.
I recall seeing a mixture of both U.S. & Japanese cocktail table-styled cabs at my local Chuck E. Cheese's back in 1982-1983 located in the main dining room area where you could play some games while eating a hearty slice of pizza or chugging down some soda. Of course, they took a bit of real estate flooring space to accomodate at best and get this, had dedicated leather padded bench seating for two gamers each on either side for a grand total of up to four folks per private cocktail table cab booth. Not to mention that the overall lighting ambience was perfectly dimmed just enough that the low-res 8-bit cocktail table cabs' monitors were adjusted for maximum contrast visual presentation/punch & very easy on the eyes.

Those were the days of early 1980s arcade gaming of lore.

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